Hello. If you guys read last week’s post, I hope you found the change in content refreshing. Today, though, I want to dive back into another health and wellness topic specifically related to nutrition. I think this week’s post will be super informative and helpful for everyone who cares to know more about how their body works.
Before I get into the bulk of the content, I want to briefly explain what a macronutrient is and why understanding this content can be beneficial.
What are Macronutrients?
Macronutrients are the nutrients our bodies need in large quantities to get the necessary energy to keep us alive. Our body structure and systems take a lot of energy to support, and that energy comes from calories. Calories can come from one of the three different macronutrients (I’m not going to touch on alcohol, but calories can also come from that). Macronutrients have a certain amount of calories per gram that fuel our bodies in different ways. A calorie is just a unit of energy. The three different macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Carbohydrates and protein contain four calories per 1 gram, while fats offer more energy, with nine calories per 1 gram.
Why is it important to know about macronutrients?
A basic understanding of macronutrients and how they work in the body can be beneficial for several reasons. First of all, it can help you balance your plate. If you know what foods contain what macronutrients, you can work on pairing them together in meals or snacks to make sure you get enough protein, carbs, and fats in your diet. Understanding macronutrients and their functions has also helped heal my relationship with food. Even if I’m eating something relatively “unhealthy,” such as a bowl of icing for breakfast or carrot cake for dinner, I can still acknowledge that the fats and carbohydrates coming from those foods still benefit my body and help it function at its best. The carbs offer me the energy to get through the day, and the fats will help regulate my hormones and support my cell growth. This shift in mindset and looking at things differently has been a game changer in terms of making peace with food. I hope this information can help you all to do the same.
So now that we know what a macronutrient is and how this information can help us, let’s explore the importance and specific functions of each macronutrient.
What are the functions of each macronutrient?
1. Carbohydrates
Carbs are incredibly important because they are our body’s main source of energy and the preferred source of energy for our brains. Carbs are broken down into glucose, which in turn offers fuel to our cells, tissues, and organs. We must get adequate carbohydrates in our diet because if not, the body will break down our muscles to use protein as a source of energy or use stored body fat. While the body can pull energy reserves from fat and muscle, the brain cannot do this so easily. The brain primarily thrives on glucose, a direct product of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are also important for digestive health. Fiber, which is a carb, keeps the digestive system moving and can also help lower cholesterol and blood sugar.
The following foods are sources of carbohydrates: bread, pasta, rice, oats, grains, nuts, beans, starchy vegetables, fruits, and snack foods (cookies, cake, baked goods, chips, candy, etc.). Personally, my carbs of choice are candy, sweet potatoes, dates, pancakes, ice cream, bagels, Clif Bars, Bobo’s PB & Js, bananas, pineapple, cookies, apples, pizza, cake, Arnold palmers, and oatmeal. Great carbs.
2. Protein
Like all other macronutrients, protein is incredibly important. Protein is essentially the building blocks of our body. Muscle, bone, nails, hair, skin, and cartilage are all made up of proteins. The body also uses protein to repair cells and tissues. Protein is responsible for the regulation of hormone levels and gene expression and also plays a vital role in keeping a healthy immune system. Proteins also speed up chemical reactions in the body and are linked to a healthy metabolism. Lastly, proteins help transport oxygen and make enzymes that aid in digestion.
If we don’t get enough protein, several things can happen, such as loss of muscle mass, weakened immune system, mood swings, trouble thinking, stunted metabolism, hair loss, fatigue, and increased risk of injury.
So, as you can see, we need a sufficient amount of protein in our diet to thrive. Foods with high amounts of protein are eggs, Greek yogurt, chicken, nuts, cottage cheese, lean beef, pork, turkey, seafood, beans and lentils, milk, and some packaged foods such as protein bars. My favorite ways to get protein are shakes with frozen fruit and added protein powder, turkey, beef, pork, chicken, seafood, eggs, protein bars—specifically Pure Protein, and Kodiak pancakes.
3. Fats
Last but not least, we have fats. Fats get shit on a lot, but you’re a lying skank if you say you don’t like peanut butter. Unless you’re allergic. So sorry. Anyway, fats are super important for our bodies to function properly. Fats are responsible for the absorption of vitamins, the production of hormones that regulate all the processes that take place in our bodies, the regulation of hunger and satiety cues, protecting our internal organs, maintaining body temperature, regulating blood pressure and cholesterol levels, supporting cell growth, and adding flavor to our food.
It’s important to get an adequate amount of fat in our diet because if not, we can run into issues such as vitamin deficiencies, dry skin, constant hunger, fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, frequently feeling cold, brain fog, and increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Bottom line- eat fats, love fats.
Foods high in fats are meats such as bacon, steak, chorizo, salami, and sausage; full-fat dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, milk, ice cream, and butter; olive oil, coconut oil, peanut butter, and avocado; baked goods such as cookies and cake; nuts, chocolate, icing, salmon, olives, egg yolks, salad dressing and sauces, and fried foods.
As a young woman who loves all her macronutrients, especially fats, I love to eat ice cream, avocados, white chocolate- especially the Lindor Balls, peanut butter, icing, salmon, pork sausage, salami, cake, and cheese. I also cook with olive oil or butter for flavor.
Closing
Now that we get the full picture, we can see clearly that each macronutrient serves a unique purpose. We need each of them to be at our best and for our bodies to function properly. Period, end of sentence.
I wish I had known all this sooner, but at least I know it now.
See you later, we’ll chat next week 😉